February 3, 2025

Annual Attack on New Hampshire Fish and Game Commission Returns

Article Contact: Fred Bird,

Why It Matters: On January 8, 2025, New Hampshire House Bill (HB) 202, was introduced to the House Committee on Fish and Game and Marine Resources, in what has become an annual attack on the make-up and authority of the New Hampshire Fish and Game Commission. Unlike past legislation, HB 202 seeks a more simplistic route: completely strip the Commission of its authority and relegate it to an advisory body only, ceding that authority to the Executive Director alone, a political appointee.  Established with the dedicated purpose of protecting and conserving wildlife, game commissions have been staffed by experts in the field throughout their existence. Such experts’ ability to make responsible and effective decisions regarding wildlife management has become contested through non-sportsmen and women pushing for representation on game commissions, or in the case of HB 202, strip the Commission of its authority completely.

Highlights:

  • On January 8, 2025, New Hampshire House Bill 202, was introduced to the House Committee on Fish and Game and Marine Resources.
  • The proposed legislation seeks to take away the New Hampshire Fish and Game Commission’s current regulatory authority and make it advisory only.
  • This bill changes the duties of the Commission, and remits their current authority to the Executive Director, a politically appointed position.

The annual assault on the New Hampshire Fish & Game Department’s Commission – a body that has been the stewards of the fish, wildlife, and marine resources for the state of New Hampshire for well over 150- years – has now returned in recently introduced House Bill 202.

On January 8, 2025, New Hampshire House Bill 202, was introduced to the House Committee on Fish and Game and Marine Resources. Unlike past legislation, this year’s bill seeks a more simplistic route: completely strip the Commission of its authority and relegate it to an advisory body only.

The New Hampshire Fish and Game Commission serves as a check and balance to politically appointed leadership via the Governor’s office and maintains rule setting based on the best, and most current science available, not political winds for a given administration. The New Hampshire Fish and Game Commission has demonstrated an over 150-year track record of success. From the recovery of species such as the wild turkey and whitetail deer, to an abundance of the once threatened bobcat, the New Hampshire Fish and Game Commission has been at the forefront of critical wildlife management and thoughtful decision making. Having a single politically appointed position be the final arborator of rule and season setting threatens science-based wildlife management for not just the sportsmen and women of the Granite State, but all of New Hampshire’s residents and the scores of non-residents that travel to New Hampshire each year, in part due to the abundant wildlife and pristine habitats the Commission has successfully managed to date.

The Congressional Sportsmen’s Foundation (CSF) looks forward to working with the New Hampshire Legislative Sportsmen’s Caucus to staunchly oppose this misguided legislation, and remains committed to thwarting efforts to subvert the mission and success of the New Hampshire Fish & Game Commission.

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